Title: For the Kid I Saw in My Dreams Vol. 11
Author: Kei Sanbe
Publisher: Yen Press
Language: English
Format: Paperback
Pages: 226
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Publication Date: October 17, 2023
The Story
We have arrived at the final volume of For the Kid I Saw in My Dreams. Here, Wakazono puts his plan into action where he manipulates Senri, Tajimi, Kazuto, and The Fire Man all at the same time. His plan is executed to perfection and Tajimi intervenes by taking Senri into protective custody. Tajimi is then told to resign from the case and take a vacation! Any and all help that Senri had has now been removed!
Meanwhile, Kazuto tailed Wakazono to a hideout; however, as one would expect, that was a trap. This hideout is more than just a simple lure… it’s the stage for the final confrontation!
Final Thoughts
I kept the story section brief as a lot of it would go into the ending of the series and I want to keep that hidden for readers. As with all final volumes, I’m skipping over the characters section and offering up my thoughts on the series as a whole.
For the Kid I Saw in My Dreams is from Kei Sanbe whose other series, ERASED, I enjoyed a lot. One of the big problems I had with ERASED was the way the ending was handled. Both series had an excellent build-up to the end but ERASED just failed to execute it well. I’m happy to say that Kei Sanbe learned their lesson and did a very satisfactory ending to this series! It wrapped up everything nicely even if some of the events were rather quick, spontaneous, and slightly unexpected.
As for the journey to reach the end, I loved it. Senri playing detective, putting himself in harm’s way, and having that extra-special ability to see through Kazuto’s eyes created one heck of a page-turner. Each volume hits you with great information, a smooth pace, great plot development, and a satisfying feeling once you reach the final page.
One thing that stood out was the key points of information and when they were revealed. They were mainly done through flashbacks; however, they provided a clearer picture of everything that transpired and offered up plausible motivations for all characters involved. Like any good mystery series, they began by breadcrumbing the reader to make you guess what would come next and then followed it up with a big revelation. This continued until it was time for the plot to wind down and all things needed to be settled. It was great from beginning to end.
I loved the characters as well and while this might be a slight spoiler, I didn’t get much from the Enan and Senri relationship. I know that this isn’t a romance series but for someone like me who is a romance buff, I would have liked to get a little more than what we did. It left a lot of things open to interpretation, though but I will say that Enan was WAY better than Kayo. I will never forget that train wreck of a plot point!
It’s hard for me to admit this because time travel is my favorite genre so ERASED will always have that over For the Kid I Saw in My Dreams but I do feel that this series feels more complete than ERASED. I think Kei Sanbe took a look back at ERASED, realized the mistakes, and worked hard to overcome them in this series.
My only major complaint is also something I complained about in ERASED… and that is Kei Sanbe only knows how to draw one type of character. It’s like the Captain Aizen meme all over again as everyone looks the same or they have very little discernable features. I know each manga artist has their own style and all but Kei Sanbe needs to learn a bit more about diversity when it comes to character styles. Maybe it would translate better in anime form but in just plain old black-and-white manga form, you really only have a character’s name to go by to recognize them at first glance.
Overall, this was a great series… one that I thoroughly enjoyed and am sad to see it end. I’m looking forward to Sanbe’s next work!
Overall Score: 4/5
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This item was provided for review by Yen Press.